The Nana hostel in Vang Vieng, Laos, where six people including two Australian teenagers died from methanol poisoning a year ago, is set to reopen under a new name. A worker confirmed to the ABC that renovations were underway and the hostel would try to open by the end of the month.
The victims included Australians Holly Morton-Bowles and Bianca Jones, both 19, who died after being transferred to a hospital in Thailand. Other victims were Simone White from the UK, James Louis Hutson from the US, and Anne-Sofie Orkild Coyman and Freja Vennervald Sorensen from Denmark.
The parents of the Australian victims expressed anger at the hostel's reopening plans, calling them 'disgusting'. They said the failure of Lao authorities to hold anyone accountable compounded their grief. One survivor suggested the hostel should be turned into a memorial.
Local authorities initially shut the hostel and posted a sign saying it was closed 'until problem is resolved and new orders'. That sign has now been removed. The owner denied the poisoned drinks came from his bar, and all those arrested were later released.
Methanol poisoning remains a problem in Southeast Asia, where unregulated distilleries produce cheap spirits. In Vang Vieng, there is no evidence of increased safety measures for tourists, and local police said the case had been referred to provincial authorities, who declined to comment.
